Majorthebys
Charming and brutal
Infamousta
brilliant actors, brilliant editing
Skyler
Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.
Billy Ollie
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
wdavisterry
After Gamera vs. Jiger this one is a definite upgrade to the level of previous Gamera movies. A real charmer, Gamera vs. Zigra features an alien who controls humans with hypnosis to get what it really wants. The plot runs into two children, the girl, Helen, who, with her older sister Maggie, appears to be bi-racial, and Kennie, who have a psychic link to Gamera. Avoid the non-Japanese print, this one is beautifully shot in wide-screen that is completely lost in the t.v. cut version. Also, the acting is much more restrained than the horrible dubbing would have you believe. It's sort of the ultimate expression of the Gamera idea. Gamera: it can never be said that he fails to get the job done when he racks up another impressive victory over a monster, here Zigra, who is creepy on the space ship (including cobwebs) but out of the ship (and full size) is more attractive than Gamera's other adversaries.
Woodyanders
Space aliens arrive on Earth with their giant shark Zigra. Of course, they plan on conquering our planet, so it's up to giant flying fire-breathing turtle Gamera to once again save the day. Director Noriaka Yuasa and writer Nisan Takahashi treat the story with admirable sincerity and toss in a valid and relevant anti-pollution message amid all the expected carnage. The cast likewise play their parts with praiseworthy conviction. The big climactic monster mash between Gamera and Zigra is staged with a reasonable amount of flair and hits the stirring spot, with the definite wacky highlight occurring when Gamera plays Zigra's back like a xylophone. The lovably rinky dink (far from) special effects -- rubbery monster suits, Tonka Toy miniatures -- possess a certain tacky charm. As a nice added bonus, we also get a hot mysterious Asian hitchhiker babe in a bikini. Plus you just gotta love the insanely catchy'n'groovy Gamera theme song! Both Akira Uehara's expansive widescreen cinematography and Shunsuke Kikuchi's robust score are up to par. A fun creature feature.
InzyWimzy
Possibly one of the earliest attempts at cinematic product placement.Ahh, Gamera. Zigra. Giant Turtle. Giant Fish. Fire. Hypnosis beams. I guess the pleasure from these classic japanese monster films is watching a world, or mostly Japan, where giant mutant monsters exist, children know much much more than the adults, and cities are crushed as easily as cheesy models...oh wait, they are models. Anyway, UFO comes to Japan. The main brats Kenny and Helen (will someone get her a coke already!!) go on zany trying to prevent Zigra and his scantily clad henchwoman (VA-VOOM!) from trying to take over earth. The Zigra woman has the ability to hypnotize people with a simple snap and she must follow Zigra's orders to kill the children who mysteriously manage to survive again and again (duh). People yell AH!!, Gamera shows up, Zigra blows stuff up, a lot of paint...uh blood is spilled, I think there were dolphins, and lots of subplots to keep virtually anyone watching perplexed. Also, the diabolically catchy Gamera song is sung here. Add this all up for a huge laughs and best seen with Joel and da bots (HEY, THAT'S US!!).
Ace-85
Campy and low-budget, all the things that make the old Gamera movies great. This movie follows a creature named Zigra, who first destroys a moon base then threatens Tokyo. Gamera arrives late and generally just mucks things up. He does somehow save the day, in one of the cheesiest fight sequences ever made. If you like stupid old movies, this one's for you."Gamera is really neat, Gamera is full of meat, We believe in Gamera!"
